


Like two peas in a pod

by whopooh



Category: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
Genre: F/M, aftermath of danger, flashfic marathon, idiots protecting each other, snarky Mac
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2020-02-08 13:58:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18624655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whopooh/pseuds/whopooh
Summary: Phryne visits Mac in the morgue, pretending nothing especially upsetting has happened.





	Like two peas in a pod

“So, what news do you have for me today, Mac? Was it poison after all?” 

Phryne entered the morgue with fast steps and a smile bright enough to make the place seem almost comfy. Mac had just finished the autopsy and cleaned her hands, and the visit from her best friend was a welcome distraction. Phryne stopped at the table and threw a look at the body just as Mac was covering him up with a sheet.

“I’m not sure _I_ am the one with the most important news,” Mac said, looking up at Phryne with a frown.

“Whatever do you mean?” Phryne said. Her voice betrayed her, rising in tone. She was obviously trying to evade the question.

“No need to pretend, darling. I heard all about your latest run-in with danger.” 

Phryne narrowed her eyes.

“How did you…” Then she stopped herself, rolling her eyes impatiently. “Please tell me he didn’t come down here to snitch on me.”

“It’s not snitching to be concerned over your friend’s well-being, Phryne,” Mac said. 

She didn’t say that the Inspector had looked so pale she’d had to guide him to a chair and pour some whiskey into him before he could explain what had happened. She didn’t say that his voice had almost broken down when he tried to speak. She didn’t feel it was her place to rat on _him_.

Phryne scrutinized her, seemingly sensing there were things Mac wasn’t telling her.

“Honestly, you are like two peas in a pod, Mac. Always fearing the worst.”

Mac smiled at the attempt at deflection. 

“That bad, huh?” 

Phryne met her eyes for a few seconds before she let out a sigh and let her shoulders slump forward, all her bravado gone in a whiff. It was a long time since those mercurial shifts in her had surprised Mac; she was all too familiar with the many layers beneath Phryne’s seemingly care free exterior. 

“It was,” she answered simply, pulling out a chair to sit down.

Mac raised an eyebrow to signal for her to continue.

“We were chasing down that dastardly Peterson, who _definitely_ killed this poor man, when he managed to gain the upper hand. In a blink, he had us by gunpoint.” Phryne swallowed. “He had his gun aimed right on Jack. So of course I had to do something.”

Mac busied herself with her gloves for a minute, remembering what Jack had said, not even an hour ago.

_“She stepped forward and said he would have to start with the ladies since she was the one who was armed, and that she never misses a shot.” Jack had swallowed hard and put a hand over his mouth, suspiciously blank in his eyes. “She was practically goading him to shoot her.”_

Mac sat down beside Phryne, reaching out to catch her friend’s hand, much as she had done with Jack earlier. It was shaking slightly. 

“You made him point the gun at you instead.” It wasn’t a question. 

“I was thinking he would be less quick to shoot a lady. I was thinking it was better he faced my way, so if backup came they'd have a better chance of being unnoticed. Or, maybe I wasn’t thinking. I just couldn’t stand for it to happen, for him to shoot Ja–” She couldn’t even finish the sentence, her eyes resting on the cabinet in the other end of the room. 

“And then Jack was about to make the man aim for him again.” Mac’s voice was kind, matter-of-fact. 

“The _fool_.” 

Her voice was clipped, annoyed. Mac stopped herself from smiling. _Two peas in a pod indeed._ “And then Constable Collins caught up from the back and managed to overman him?” 

Phryne’s eyes returned to her friend. 

“I have never been so happy to see Hugh Collins in my life.” 

Mac let out a snort; Phryne smiled. 

“He felled him like a tree. It was admirable, really. Peterson never even noticed he was there.” 

Mac rolled her eyes at that, patting her friend on her knee before rising to continue her work. She really had to finish the report of her findings so this case could be sealed and done with – so Peterson could be sent to rot in prison and Phryne home to take a long, soothing bath. 

“He hardly had a chance to notice, did he?” she said. “He must have been far too busy with you and the Inspector behaving like two full-blown idiots in love." 


End file.
